PURNE1 

STATIONERY  COI 
SACRAMEN 


IN  FRONT  OF  HIM  NEXT  TO  THE 
WALL,  STOOD  A  GLASS  CASE- 


TON! 

THE  LITTLE 
WOODCARVER 


•11 

JOHMNASPYW 

AJUTJHbR 

o 
TRANSLATED 


NEW  YORK  | 

>THOMAS-YCROWELLGO 

:   PUBklStoERS 


T   O   N    I 

THE  LITTLE 
WOOD-CARVER 


BY 

JOHANNA  SPYRI 

Author  of  "Heidi" 


TRANSLATED 

BY 

HELEN  B.  DOLE 


NEW  YORK 

THOMAS  Y.  CROWELL  COMPANY 
PUBLISHERS 


COPYRIGHT,  1920 
BY  THOMAS  Y.  CROWELL  COMPANY 


EOUC.- 
PSYCH. 
LIBRARY 

GIFT 


fT25"2_ 


192.0 

EDUC.- 

PSXCH. 


CONTENTS 

PAOE 

AT  HOME  IN  THE  LITTLE  STONE  HUT      ...  7 

A  HARD  SENTENCE 25 

UP  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 37 

IN  THE  SANITARIUM 57 


AT  HOME  IN 
THE  LITTLE  STONE  HUT 


CHAPTER  FIRST 

AT   HOME   IN   THE  LITTLE   STONE   HUT 

HIGH  up  in  the  Bernese  Oberland,  quite 
a  distance  above  the  meadow-encircled 
hamlet  of  Kandergrund,  stands  a  little 
lonely  hut,  under  the  shadow  of  an  old  fir-tree. 
Not  far  away  rushes  down  from  the  wooded 
heights  of  rock  the  Wild  brook,  which  in  times  of 
heavy  rains,  has  carried  away  so  many  rocks  and 
bowlders  that  when  the  storms  are  ended  a  ragged 
mass  of  stones  is  left,  through  which  flows  a 
swift,  clear  stream  of  water.  Therefore  the  lit- 
tle dwelling  near  by  this  brook  is  called  the 
stone  hut. 

Here  lived  the  honest  day-laborer  Toni,  who 
conducted  himself  well  in  every  farm-house, 
where  he  went  to  work,  for  he  was  quiet  and  in- 

9 


10       TONI,  THE  WOOD-CARVER 

dustrious,  punctual  at  his  tasks,  and  reliable  in 
every  way. 

In  his  hut  at  home  he  had  a  young  wife  and  a 
little  boy,  who  was  a  joy  to  both  of  them.  Near 
the  hut  in  the  little  shed  was  the  goat,  the  milk 
of  which  supplied  food  for  the  mother  and  child, 
while  the  father  received  his  board  through  the 
week  on  the  farms  where  he  worked  from  morn- 
ing until  night.  Only  on  Sunday  was  he  at 
home  with  his  wife  and  little  Toni.  The  wife 
Elsbeth,  kept  her  little  house  in  good  order;  it 
was  narrow  and  tiny,  but  it  always  looked  so 
clean  and  cheerful  that  every  one  liked  to  come 
into  the  sunny  room,  and  the  father,  Toni,  was 
never  so  happy  as  when  he  was  at  home  in  the 
stone  hut  with  his  little  boy  on  his  knee. 

For  five  years  the  family  lived  in  harmony 
and  undisturbed  peace.  Although  they  had 
no  abundance  and  little  worldly  goods,  they 
were  happy  and  content.  The  husband  earned 
enough,  so  they  did  not  suffer  want,  and  they 
desired  nothing  beyond  their  simple  manner  of 


THE  LITTLE  STONE  HUT        11 

life,  for  they  loved  each  other  and  their  greatest 
delight  was  little  Toni. 

The  little  boy  grew  strong  and  healthy  and 
with  his  merry  ways  delighted  his  father's  heart, 
when  he  remained  at  home  on  Sundays,  and 
sweetened  all  his  mother's  work  on  week-days, 
when  his  father  was  away  until  late  in  the  eve- 
ning. 

Little  Toni  was  now  four  years  old  and  already 
knew  how  to  be  helpful  in  all  sorts  of  small  ways, 
in  the  house  and  the  goat's  shed  and  also  in  the 
field  behind  the  hut.  From  morning  until  night 
he  tripped  happily  behind  his  mother  for  he  was 
as  content  as  the  little  birds  up  in  the  old  fir- 
tree. 

When  Saturday  night  came  the  mother 
scrubbed  and  cleaned  with  doubled  energy,  to  fin- 
ish early,  for  on  that  day  the  father  was  through 
his  work  earlier  than  other  days,  and  she  always 
went  with  little  Toni  by  the  hand,  part  way  to 
meet  him.  This  was  a  great  delight  to  the  child. 
He  now  knew  very  well  how  one  task  followed 


12       TONI,  THE  WOOD-CARVER 

another  in  the  household.  When  his  mother  be- 
gan to  scrub,  he  jumped  around  in  the  room,  with 
delight  and  cried  out  again  and  again:  "Now  we 
are  going  for  Father!  Now  we  are  going  for 
Father!"  until  the  moment  came  when  his  mother 
took  him  by  the  hand  and  started  along. 

Saturday  evening  had  come  again  in  the  lovely 
month  of  May.  Outdoors  the  birds  in  the  trees 
were  singing  merrily  up  to  the  blue  sky ;  indoors 
the  mother  was  cleaning  busily,  in  order  to  get 
out  early  into  the  golden  evening,  and  meanwhile 
now  outside,  now  in  the  house,  little  Toni  was 
hopping  around  and  shouting: 

"Now  we  are  going  for  Father!" 

It  was  not  long  before  the  work  was  finished. 
The  mother  put  on  her  shawl,  tied  on  her  best 
apron  and  stepped  out  of  the  house. 

Toni  jumped  for  joy  and  ran  three  times 
around  his  mother,  then  seized  her  hand  and 
shouted  once  more: 

"Now  we  are  going  for  Father!" 

Then  he  tripped  along  beside  his  mother  in  the 


THE  LITTLE  STONE  HUT        13 

lovely,  sunny  evening.  They  wandered  to  the 
Wild  brook,  over  the  wooden  bridge,  which 
crosses  it,  and  came  to  the  narrow  foot-path, 
winding  up  through  the  flower-laden  meadows  to 
the  farm  where  the  father  worked. 

The  last  rays  of  the  setting  sun  fell  across  the 
meadows  and  the  sound  of  the  evening  bells  came 
up  from  Kandergrund. 

The  mother  stood  still  and  folded  her  hands. 

"Lay  your  hands  together  Toneli,"  she  said, 
"it  is  the  Angelus." 

The  child  obeyed. 

"What  must  I  pray,  Mother?"  he  asked. 

"Give  us  and  all  tired  people  a  blessed  Sun- 
day! Amen!"  said  the  mother  devoutly. 

Toneli  repeated  the  prayer.  Suddenly  he 
screamed:  "Father  is  coming!" 

Down  from  the  farm  some  one  was  running  as 
fast  as  he  could  come. 

"That  is  not  Father,"  said  his  mother,  and  both 
went  towards  the  running  man.  When  they 
met,  the  man  stood  still  and  said,  gasping: 


14       TONI,  THE  WOOD-CARVER 

"Don't  go  any  farther,  turn  around,  Elsbeth. 
I  came  straight  to  you,  for  something  has  hap- 
pened." 

"Oh,  my  God!"  cried  the  woman  in  the  great- 
est anguish,  "has  something  happened  to  Toni?" 

"Yes,  he  was  with  the  wood-cutters,  and  then 
he  was  struck.  They  have  brought  him  back; 
he  is  lying  up  at  the  farm — but  don't  go  up 
there,"  he  added,  holding  Elsbeth  fast,  for  she 
wanted  to  start  off  as  soon  as  she  heard  the 
news. 

"Not  go  up?"  she  said  quickly.  "I  must  go  to 
him ;  I  must  help  him  and  see  about  bringing  him 
home." 

"You  cannot  help  him,  he  is — he  is  already 
dead,"  said  the  messenger  in  an  unsteady  voice. 
Then  he  turned  and  ran  back  again,  glad  to 
have  the  message  off  his  mind. 

Elsbeth  threw  herself  down  on  a  stone  by  the 
way,  unable  to  stand  or  to  walk.  She  held  her 
apron  before  her  face  and  burst  into  weeping  and 
sobbing,  so  that  Toneli  was  distressed  and  fright- 


THE  LITTLE  STONE  HUT        15 

ened.  He  pressed  close  to  his  mother  and  began 
to  cry  too. 

It  was  already  dark,  when  Elsbeth  finally  came 
to  herself  and  could  think  of  her  child.  The  lit- 
tle one  was  still  sitting  beside  her  on  the  ground, 
with  both  hands  pressed  to  his  eyes,  and  sobbing 
pitifully.  His  mother  lifted  him  up. 

"Come,  Toneli,  we  must  go  home;  it  is  late," 
slie  said,  taking  him  by  the  hand. 

But  he  resisted. 

"No,  no,  we  must  wait  for  Father!"  he  said  and 
pulled  his  mother  back. 

Again  she  could  not  keep  back  the  tears.  "Oh, 
Toneli,  Father  will  come  no  more,"  she  said, 
stifling  her  sobs;  "he  is  already  enjoying  the 
blessed  Sunday,  we  prayed  for,  for  the  weary. 
See,  the  dear  Lord  has  taken  him  to  Heaven; 
it  is  so  beautiful  there,  he  will  prefer  to  stay 
there." 

"Then  we  will  go  too,"  replied  Toneli,  starting 
along. 

"Yes,  yes,  we  shall  go  there  too,"  promised  his 


16       TONI,  THE  WOOD-CARVER 

mother,  "but  now  we  must  first  go  home  to  the 
stone  hut,"  and  without  a  word  she  went  with 
the  little  one  back  to  the  silent  cottage. 

The  proprietor  of  the  Matten  farm  sent  word 
to  Elsbeth  the  following  day  that  he  would  do 
everything  necessary  for  her  husband,  and  so  she 
need  not  come  until  it  was  time  for  the  service,  for 
she  would  not  recognize  her  husband.  He  sent 
her  some  money  in  order  that  she  would  not  have 
too  much  care  in  the  next  few  days,  and  promised 
to  think  of  her  later  on. 

Elsbeth  did  as  he  advised  and  remained  at 
home  until  the  bells  in  Kandergrund  rang  for 
the  service.  Then  she  went  to  accompany  her 
husband  to  his  resting  place. 

Sad  and  hard  days  came  for  Elsbeth.  She 
missed  her  good,  kind  husband  everywhere,  and 
felt  quite  lost  without  him.  Besides,  cares 
came  now  which  she  had  known  little  about  be- 
fore, for  her  husband  had  had  his  good,  daily 
work.  But  now  she  felt  sometimes  as  if  she 
would  almost  despair.  She  had  nothing  but  her 


THE  LITTLE  STONE  HUT        17 

goat  and  the  little  potato  field  behind  the  cottage, 
and  from  these  she  had  to  feed  and  clothe  herself 
and  the  little  one,  and  besides  furnish  rent  for 
the  little  house. 

Elsbeth  had  only  one  consolation,  but  one 
that  always  supported  her  when  pain  and  care 
oppressed  her ;  she  could  pray,  and  although  often 
in  the  midst  of  tears,  still  always  with  the  firm  be- 
lief that  the  dear  Lord  would  hear  her  supplica- 
tion. 

When  at  night  she  had  put  little  Toni  in  his 
tiny  bed  she  would  kneel  down  beside  him  and 
repeat  aloud  the  old  hymn,  which  now  came 
from  the  depths  of  her  heart,  as  never  before: 

Oh,  God  of  Love,  oh  Father-heart, 

In  whom  my  trust  is  founded, 
I  know  full  well  how  good  Thou  art — 

E'en  when  by  grief  I  am  wounded. 

Oh  Lord,  it  surely  can  not  be 
That  Thou  wilt  let  me  languish 

In  hopeless  depths  of  misery, 
And  live  in  tears  of  anguish. 


18       TQNI,  THE  WOOD-CARVER 

Oh  Lord,  my  soul  yearns  for  thine  aid 

In  this  dark  vale  of  weeping; 
For  thee  I've  waited,  hoped  and  prayed 

Assured  of  thy  safe  keeping. 

Lord  let  me  bear  whate'er  thy  Love 

May  send  of  grief  or  sorrow, 
Until  Thou,  in  thy  Heaven  above 

Make  dawn  a  brighter  morrow. 

And  in  the  midst  of  her  urgent  praying,  the 
mother's  tears  flowed  abundantly,  and  little 
Toni,  deeply  moved  in  his  heart  by  his  mother's 
weeping  and  earnest  prayer,  kept  his  hands 
folded  and  wept  softly  too. 

So  the  time  passed.  Elsbeth  struggled  along 
and  little  Toni  was  able  to  help  her  in  many 
ways,  for  he  was  now  seven  years  old.  He  was 
his  mother's  only  joy,  and  she  was  able  to  take 
delight  in  him  for  he  was  obedient  and  willing 
to  do  everything  she  desired.  He  had  always 
been  so  inseparable  from  his  mother  that  he  knew 
exactly  how  the  tasks  of  the  day  had  to  be  done, 
and  he  desired  nothing  but  to  help  her  whenever 


THE  LITTLE  STONE  HUT        19 

he  could.  If  she  was  working  in  the  little  field, 
he  squatted  beside  her,  pulled  out  the  weeds, 
and  threw  the  stones  across  the  path. 

If  his  mother  was  taking  the  goat  out  of  the 
shed  so  that  she  could  nibble  the  grass  around 
the  hut,  he  went  with  her  step  by  step,  for  his 
mother  had  told  him  he  must  watch  her  so  that 
she  would  not  run  away. 

If  his  mother  was  sitting  in  winter  by  her 
spinning-wheel,  he  sat  the  whole  time  beside  her, 
mending  his  winter  shoes  with  strong  strips  of 
cloth,  as  she  had  taught  him  to  do.  He  had  no 
greater  wish  than  to  see  his  mother  happy  and 
contented.  His  greatest  pleasure  was,  when 
Sunday  came  and  she  was  resting  from  all  work, 
to  sit  with  her  on  the  little  wooden  bench  in 
front  of  the  house  and  listen  as  she  told  him  about 
his  father  and  talk  with  her  about  all  kinds  of 
things. 

But  now  the  time  had  come  for  Toni  to  go 
to  school.  It  was  very  hard  for  him  to  leave  his 
mother  and  remain  away  from  her  so  much.  The 


20       TONI,  THE  WOOD-CARVER 

long  way  down  to  Kandergrund  and  up  again 
took  so  much  time,  that  Toni  was  hardly  ever 
with  his  mother  any  more  through  the  day,  but 
only  in  the  evening.  Indeed  he  always  came 
home  so  quickly  that  she  could  hardly  believe 
it  possible,  for  he  looked  forward  with  pleasure 
all  day  long  to  getting  home  again.  He  lost  no 
time  with  his  school-mates  but  ran  immediately 
away  from  them  as  soon  as  school  was  over.  He 
was  not  accustomed  to  the  ways  of  the  other 
boys  since  he  had  been  constantly  alone  with  his 
quietly  working  mother  and  used  to  perform- 
ing definite  tasks  continually  without  any  noise. 

So  it  was  altogether  strange  to  him  and  he 
took  no  pleasure  in  it,  when  the  boys  coming 
out  of  the  school-house,  set  up  a  great  scream- 
ing, one  running  after  another,  trying  to  see 
which  was  the  stronger,  and  throwing  one  another 
on  the  ground,  or  wrestling  so  that  their  caps 
were  thrown  far  away  and  their  jackets  half 
torn  off. 

The  wrestlers  would  often  call  to  him: 


THE  LITTLE  STONE  HUT        21 

"Come  and  play!"  and  when  he  ran  away  from 
them  they  would  call  after  him:  "You  are  a 
coward."  But  this  made  little  difference  to  him; 
he  didn't  hear  it  long,  for  he  ran  with  all  his 
might  in  order  to  be  at  home  again  with  his 
mother. 

Now  a  new  interest  for  him  arose  in  the  school : 
lie  had  seen  beautiful  animals  drawn  on  white 
sheets,  which  the  children  of  the  upper  classes 
copied.  He  quickly  tried  to  draw  them,  too,  with 
his  pencil  and  at  home  continued  drawing  the 
animals  again  and  again  as  long  as  he  had  a  bit 
of  paper.  Then  he  cut  out  the  animals  and  tried 
to  make  them  stand  on  the  table,  but  this  he 
could  not  do.  Then  suddenly  the  thought  came 
to  him  that  if  they  were  of  wood  they  could 
stand.  He  began  quickly  with  his  knife  to  cut 
around  on  a  little  piece  of  wood  until  there  was  a 
body  and  four  legs;  but  the  wood  was  not  large 
enough  for  the  neck  and  the  head;  so  he  had  to 
take  another  piece  and  calculate  from  the  begin- 
ning how  high  it  must  be  and  where  the  head 


22       TQNI,  THE  WOOD-CARVER 

must  be  placed.  So  Toni  cut  away  with  much 
perseverance  until  he  succeeded  in  making  some- 
thing like  a  goat  and  could  show  it  with  great  sat- 
isfaction to  his  mother.  She  was  much  delighted 
at  his  skill  and  said : 

"You  are  surely  going  to  be  a  wood-carver,  and 
a  very  good  one." 

From  that  time  on  Toni  looked  at  every  little 
piece  of  wood  which  came  in  his  way,  to  see  if 
it  would  be  good  for  carving,  and  if  so  he  would 
quickly  put  it  away,  so  that  he  often  brought 
home  all  his  pockets  full  of  these  pieces,  which 
he  then  collected  like  treasures  into  a  pile  and 
spent  every  free  moment  carving  them. 

Thus  the  years  passed  by.  Although  Elsbeth 
always  had  many  cares,  she  experienced  only  joy 
in  her  Toni.  He  still  clung  to  her  with  the  same 
love,  helped  her  in  every  way  as  well  as  he  could 
and  spent  his  life  beside  her,  entirely  at  his  quiet 
occupation,  in  which  he  gradually  acquired  a 
quite  gratifying  skill.  Toni  was  never  so  con- 
tent as  when  he  was  sitting  in  the  little  stone 


THE  LITTLE  STONE  HUT        23 

hut  with  his  carving  and  his  mother  came  in  and 
out  happily  employed,  always  saying  a  kindly 
word  to  him  and  finally  sat  down  beside  him  at 
her  spinning-wheel. 


A  HARD  SENTENCE 


CHAPTER  SECOND 

A   HARD   SENTENCE 

TONI  was  twelve  years  old  in  the  winter, 
and  now  his  school  days  were  over,  and 
the  time  had  come  to  look  about  for  some 
kind  of  work  which  would  bring  him  in  some 
money  and  by  which  he  could  learn  something 
necessary  for  future  years. 

Spring  had  come  and  work  had  begun  in  the 
fields.  His  mother  thought  it  would  be  best  to 
ask  the  proprietor  of  the  Matten  farm,  if  he  had 
some  light  work  for  Toni;  but  every  time  she 
spoke  about  it  he  would  say  beseechingly : 

"  Oh,  Mother,  don't  do  that;  let  me  be  a  wood- 
carver!" 

She  would  have  had  no  objection  to  this,  but 
knew  no  way  to  bring  it  about,  and  she  had 
known  the  farmer  up  on  the  Matten  farm  ever 

27 


28       TONI,  THE  WOOD-CARVER 

since  her  husband  had  worked  there,  and  ever 
since  his  death,  from  time  to  time  he  had  sent  her 
a  little  wood  or  meal. 

She  hoped  that  he  would  employ  Toni  at  first 
for  light  tasks  in  the  field,  so  that  he  would 
gradually  learn  to  do  the  heavier  work. 

So  on  Saturday  night  after  the  day's  work  was 
ended  and  she  sat  down  with  Toni  to  their  scanty 
supper,  she  said  once  more : 

"Toni,  now  we  must  take  a  decided  step;  I 
think  it  is  best  for  me  to  go  up  to  the  Matten 
farm  to-morrow/* 

"Oh,  Mother,  don't  do  that!"  said  Toni  quite 
beseechingly.  "Don't  go  to  the  farmer!  If  you 
will  only  let  me  be  a  wood-carver,  I  will  work  so 
hard,  that  I  will  earn  enough,  and  you  will  not 
have  to  do  so  much,  and  then  I  can  stay  at  home 
with  you.  Besides  you  would  be  all  alone,  and 
I  can't  bear  it,  if  I  have  to  be  always  away  from 
you.  Let  me  stay  with  you ;  don't  send  me  away, 
Mother." 

"Oh,  you  good  Toni,"  said  his  mother,  "what 


A  HARD  SENTENCE  29 

wouldn't  I  give  to  be  able  to  keep  you  always  with 
me!  But  that  really  cannot  be.  I  know  of  no 
way  for  you  to  be  a  wood-carver ;  some  one  would 
have  to  teach  you,  and  when  you  had  learned,  how 
should  we  sell  the  carvings?  You  would  have 
to  know  people  and  go  about,  or  else  your  work 
wouldn't  bring  any  money.  If  only  I  could  talk 
with  some  one,  who  could  give  me  good  advice!" 

"Don't  you  know  any  one,  Mother,  you  can 
ask?"  said  Toni  anxiously  and  racked  his  brain  to 
try  to  think  of  some  one.  His  mother  too  began 
to  consider. 

"I  think  I  will  go  to  the  pastor,  who  has  al- 
ready given  me  advice,"  said  his  mother,  delighted 
to  have  found  a  way  out  of  the  difficulty. 

Toni  was  quite  happy  and  now  was  determined 
that  early  the  next  morning  they  should  go  down 
to  the  church  and  then  his  mother  could  go  in 
to  see  the  pastor  and  Toni  would  wait  outside. 

Everything  was  carried  out  on  Sunday  morn- 
ing as  they  had  planned.  His  mother  had  put 
two  of  the  little  carved  animals  in  her  pocket  to 


30       TONI,  THE  WOOD-CARVER 

show  the  pastor  as  examples  of  her  boy's  good 
ability.  The  pastor  received  her  very  cordially, 
had  her  sit  down  beside  him  and  enquired  with 
interest  about  her  affairs,  for  he  knew  Elsbeth 
and  how  bravely  she  had  helped  herself  through 
all  the  hard  times. 

She  told  him  now  the  whole  story,  how  Toni 
from  a  very  early  age  had  worked  at  the  carving 
with  so  much  interest  and  now  wished  for  noth- 
ing so  much  as  to  carry  on  this  work,  but  how  she 
knew  of  no  way  for  him  to  learn,  nor  how,  later, 
the  work  could  be  sold.  Finally  she  showed  him 
the  two  little  animals  as  examples  of  Toni's  skill. 

The  pastor  replied  to  the  mother  that  the 
plan  would  be  very  difficult  to  carry  out.  Al- 
though the  two  little  goats  were  not  badly  carved, 
yet  in  order  to  perform  the  work  right  and  to 
earn  his  bread  by  it,  Toni  would  have  first  to 
learn  from  a  good  carver,  because  making  only 
little  animals  or  boxes  would  not  amount  to  any- 
thing or  bring  in  any  money,  and  he  would  only 
be  wasting  his  time. 


A  HARD  SENTENCE  31 

However,  down  in  the  village  of  Frutigen  there 
was  a  very  skillful,  well-known  wood-carver,  who 
made  wonderful  large  works  which  went  far 
into  the  world,  even  to  America.  He  carved 
whole  groups  of  animals  on  high  rocks,  chamois 
and  eagles  and  whole  mountains  with  the  herds- 
man and  the  cows.  Elsbeth  could  talk  with  this 
carver.  If  Toni  studied  with  him  he  could  help 
him  to  sell  the  finished  work,  for  he  had  ways 
open  for  it. 

Elsbeth  left  the  pastor  with  gratitude  and  new 
hope  in  her  heart.  In  front  of  the  house  Toni 
was  waiting  in  great  suspense.  She  had  to  tell 
him  at  once  everything  the  pastor  had  said,  and 
when  she  finally  related  about  the  wood-carver 
in  Frutigen  Toni  suddenly  stood  still  and  said: 

"Then  come,  Mother,  let  us  go  to  the  place 
at  once." 

However,  his  mother  had  not  thought  it  over- 
she  made  many  objections,  but  Toni  begged  so 
earnestly,  that  she  finally  said: 

"We  must  go  home  first  and  have  something 


32       TQNI,  THE  WOOD-CARVER 

to  eat,  for  it  is  very  far  away;  but  we  can  do 
that  quickly  and  then  start  off  again  right  away." 

So  they  hurried  back  to  the  house,  took  a  little 
bread  and  milk  and  started  on  their  way  again. 
They  had  several  hours  to  travel,  but  Toni  was 
so  busy  with  his  plans  and  thoughts  for  the 
future,  the  time  flew  like  a  dream  and  he  looked 
up  in  great  surprise,  when  his  mother  said: 

"See,  there  is  the  church  tower  of  Frutigen!" 

They  were  soon  standing  in  front  of  the  wood- 
carver's  house,  and  learned  from  the  children  be- 
fore the  door,  that  their  father  was  at  home. 

Inside  in  the  large,  wainscotted  room,  sat  the 
wood-carver  with  his  wife  at  the  table,  looking  at 
a  large  book  of  beautiful  colored  pictures  of  ani- 
mals which  he  would  be  able  to  make  good  use 
of  in  his  handicraft.  When  the  two  arrived  he 
welcomed  them  and  invited  them  to  come  and  be 
seated  on  the  wooden  bench,  where  he  and  his  wife 
were  sitting  and  which  ran  along  the  wall  around 
the  entire  room.  Elsbeth  accepted  the  invitation 
and  immediately  began  to  tell  the  wood-carver 


A  HARD  SENTENCE  33 

why  she  had  come  and  what  she  so  much  desired 
of  him. 

Meanwhile  Toni  stood  as  if  rooted  to  the  floor 
and  stared  motionless  at  a  single  spot.  In  front 
of  him  next  the  wall  was  a  glass  case,  in  which 
could  be  seen  two  high  rocks,  carved  out  of 
wood.  On  one  was  standing  a  chamois  with  her 
little  ones.  They  had  such  dainty,  slender  legs, 
and  their  fine  heads  sat  so  naturally  on  their 
necks  that  it  seemed  as  if  they  were  all  alive  and 
not  at  all  made  of  wood.  On  the  other  rock 
stood  a  hunter,  his  gun  hanging  by  his  side,  and 
his  hat,  with  even  a  feather  in  it,  sat  on  his  head, 
all  so  finely  carved,  that  one  would  think  it  must 
be  a  real  hat  and  a  real  little  feather,  and  yet 
all  was  of  wood. 

Next  the  hunter  stood  his  dog,  and  it  seemed 
as  if  he  would  even  wag  his  tail.  Toni  was  like 
one  enchanted  and  hardly  breathed. 

When  his  mother  finished  speaking,  the  wood- 
carver  said  it  seemed  to  him  as  if  she  thought  the 
affair  would  half  go  of  itself,  but  it  was  not  so. 


34       TONI,  THE  WOOD-CARVER 

If  a  thing  was  to  be  done  right,  it  cost  much 
time  and  patience  to  learn.  He  was  not  averse 
to  taking  the  boy,  for  it  seemed  to  him  that  he  had 
a  desire  to  learn;  but  she  would  have  to  pay  for 
his  board  for  a  couple  of  months  in  Frutigen,  be- 
sides paying  for  his  instruction,  which  would  be 
as  much  as  his  board,  and  she  herself  must  know 
whether  she  could  spend  so  much  on  the  boy.  On 
the  other  hand  he  would  promise  that  the  boy 
would  be  taught  right,  and  she  could  see  there  in 
the  glass  case,  what  he  could  learn  to  do. 

At  first  Elsbeth  was  so  disappointed  and  dis- 
mayed she  was  unable  to  speak  a  word.  Now  she 
knew  that  it  would  be  absolutely  impossible  for 
her  to  fulfill  her  boy's  greatest  wish.  The  neces- 
sary expense  of  board  and  instruction  was  be- 
yond anything  that  she  could  manage,  so  much 
so  that  it  was  quite  out  of  the  question.  It  was 
all  over  with  Toni's  plans. 

She  rose  and  thanked  the  wood-carver  for  his 
willingness  to  take  the  boy,  but  she  would  have 
to  decline  his  offer.  Then  she  beckoned  to  Toni, 


A  HARD  SENTENCE  35 

whose  eyes  were  still  so  fastened  to  the  glass  case 
that  he  paid  no  attention.  She  took  him  by  the 
hand  and  led  him  quietly  out  of  the  door. 

Outside  Toni  said,  drawing  a  deep  breath : 

"Did  you  see  what  was  in  the  case?  Mother, 
did  you  see  it?" 

"Yes,  yes,  I  saw  it,  Toni,"  replied  his  mother 
with  a  sigh,  "but  did  you  hear  what  the  wood- 
carver  said?" 

Toni  had  heard  nothing;  all  his  mind  had  been 
directed  to  one  point. 

"No,  I  didn't  hear  anything;  when  can  I  go?" 
he  asked  longingly. 

"Oh,  it  is  not  possible,  Toni,  but  don't  take  it 
so  to  heart!  See,  I  can't  do  it,  although  I  would 
like  to  so  much,"  declared  his  mother;  "but 
everything  would  come  to  more  than  I  earn  in  a 
year,  and  you  know  how  hard  I  have  to  work  to 
manage  to  make  the  two  ends  meet." 

It  was  a  hard  blow  for  Toni.  All  his  hopes 
for  many  years  lay  destroyed  before  him;  but  he 
knew  how  his  mother  worked,  how  little  good  she 


36       TONI,  THE  WOOD-CARVER 

herself  had,  and  how  she  always  tried  to  give  him 
a  little  pleasure  when  she  could.  He  said  not  a 
word  and  silently  swallowed  his  rising  tears,  but 
he  was  very  much  grieved  that  all  his  hopes  were 
over,  since  for  the  first  time  he  had  seen  what 
wonderful  things  could  be  made  out  of  a  piece 
of  wood. 


UP  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 


CHAPTER  THIRD 

UP  IN   THE   MOUNTAINS 

THE  next  morning,  the  farmer  on  the 
Matten  farm  sent  word  to  Elsbeth,  to 
come  up  to  see  him  towards  evening,  as 
he  had  something  to  talk  with  her  about.  At  the 
right  time  she  laid  aside  her  hoe,  tied  on  a  clean 
apron,  and  said: 

"Finish  the  hoeing,  Toni;  then  you  can  milk 
the  goat  and  give  her  some  fresh  straw,  so  she 
will  have  a  better  bed.  Then  I  will  be  back 
again." 

She  went  up  to  the  Matten  farm.  The  farmer 
was  standing  in  the  open  barn-door  gazing  with 
satisfaction  at  his  beautiful  cows,  wandering  in 
a  long  procession  to  the  well.  Elsbeth  stepped 
up  to  him. 

."Well,  I  am  glad  you  have  come,"  he  said, 


40       TONI,  THE  WOOD-CARVER 

holding  out  his  hand  to  her.  "I  have  been  think- 
ing about  you  on  account  of  the  boy's  welfare. 
He  is  now  at  an  age  to  do  some  light  work  and 
help  you  a  little,  at  least  to  take  care  of  him- 
self." 

"I  have  already  been  thinking  about  that,"  re- 
plied Elsbeth,  "and  wanted  to  ask  you,  if  you 
could  give  him  a  little  light  work  in  the  fields?" 

"That  is  fortunate,"  continued  the  farmer.  "I 
have  a  little  job  for  him,  healthy  and  not  very 
hard,  that  is  to  say  not  hard  at  all.  He  can  go 
up  to  the  small  mountain  with  the  cows.  The 
herdsman  with  his  boys  is  on  the  big  mountain 
and  a  man  is  also  there  to  come  every  morning 
and  evening  for  the  milking,  so  the  boy  will  not  be 
entirely  alone  and  will  have  nothing  to  do  but 
watch  the  cows  so  that  none  wander  off,  that  they 
don't  hook  each  other  or  do  anything  out  of  the 
way.  While  he  sits  there  on  the  mountain  he  is 
master  and  can  have  all  the  milk  he  wants.  A 
king  couldn't  have  anything  better." 

Elsbeth  was  a  little  frightened  by  the  offer. 


UP  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS         41 

If  Toni  had  been  more  with  the  farm  men,  and 
had  been  with  cows,  or  if  he  had  naturally  a 
different  disposition,  wilder  and  more  roving 
and  commanding — but  as  he  was  so  quiet  and 
shy,  and  besides  without  any  knowledge  of  such 
things,  to  be  for  the  first  time  all  alone  for  sev- 
eral months,  away  from  home,  up  on  the  moun- 
tains, watching  a  herd  of  cows,  this  seemed  to 
her  too  hard  for  Toni.  What  would  the  poor 
boy,  who  was  not  particularly  strong,  do  if  any- 
thing happened  to  him  or  to  the  herd?  She  ex- 
pressed all  her  thoughts  to  the  farmer,  but  it 
made  no  difference ;  he  thought  it  would  be  good 
for  the  boy  to  get  out  for  once,  and  up  on  the 
mountain  he  would  be  much  stronger  than  at 
home,  and  nothing  could  happen  to  him,  for  he 
would  be  given  a  horn  and  if  anything  went 
wrong  he  could  blow  lustily,  and  immediately  the 
farm  man  would  come  from  the  other  mountain ; 
in  a  half  hour  he  would  be  there. 

Elsbeth  finally  thought  the  farmer  understood 
it  much  better  than  she,  and  so  it  was  decided 


42       TONI,  THE  WOOD-CARVER 

that  the  next  week,  when  the  cows  went  up  to 
the  mountain  pasture,  Toni  should  go  with  them. 

"He  shall  have  a  good  bit  of  money  and  a  new 
suit  of  clothes  when  he  comes  down.  That  will 
be  a  help  for  the  winter,"  said  the  farmer  fi- 
nally. 

Elsbeth  thanked  him  as  she  said  good-by,  and 
turned  homeward. 

Toni  was  at  first  opposed  to  this,  when  he 
heard  that  he  would  be  away  so  long  without  be- 
ing able  to  come  home  a  single  time;  but  his 
mother  explained  to  him  how  easy  the  work  would 
be,  that  he  would  grow  stronger  up  there,  so  as 
to  be  able  to  do  better  things  later  on,  and  that 
the  Matten  farmer  would  give  him  a  new  suit 
and  a  good  bit  of  money  as  pay.  So  Toni  ob- 
jected no  longer,  but  said  he  would  be  glad  to 
do  something  and  not  let  his  mother  work  alone. 

Then  it  occurred  to  Elsbeth  that,  if  Toni  was 
going  to  be  away  the  whole  summer  she  could 
perhaps  go  to  one  of  the  big  hotels  in  Interlaken 
where  so  many  strangers  go  for  the  summer. 


UP  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS         43 

There  she  could  earn  a  good  sum  of  money  and 
meet  the  coming  winter  without  anxiety.  She 
was  already  known  in  Interlaken  for  she  had 
served  as  chambermaid  in  one  of  the  hotels  for 
several  summers  before  her  marriage. 

When  the  day  came  for  the  big  herd  of  cows  to 
be  taken  up  to  the  mountain  pasture,  Toni's 
mother  gave  him  his  little  bundle  and  said: 

"Go  now,  in  God's  name!  Don't  forget  to 
pray,  when  the  day  begins,  and  when  it  ends, 
and  the  dear  Lord  will  not  forget  you,  and  His 
protection  is  better  than  that  of  men." 

So  Toni  started  off  with  his  little  bundle  be- 
hind the  herd  up  the  mountain. 

Immediately  after  this  Elsbeth  closed  her  cot- 
tage. She  took  the  goat  up  to  the  Matten  farm. 
When  the  farmer  heard  that  she  was  going  to 
Interlaken,  he  promised  her  to  take  the  goat,  and 
thought  when  Elsbeth  came  home  again,  she 
would  give  twice  as  much  milk,  and  what  he  made 
from  her,  he  would  give  back  to  Elsbeth  in  cheese. 
Then  she  started  down  to  Interlaken. 


44       TONI,  THE  WOOD-CARVER 

The  herd  had  already  been  climbing  the  moun- 
tain for  several  hours.  The  herdsman  turned  off 
to  the  left  with  the  big  herd,  and  the  man  went 
with  Toni  up  towards  the  right,  followed  by  the 
smaller  herd,  which  consisted  of  fewer  cows  but 
many  young  cattle,  for  not  many  cows  could  be 
kept  on  the  small  mountain  pasture,  because  the 
milk  had  to  be  carried  across  to  the  big  one  where 
the  herdsman's  hut  stood. 

They  now  reached  the  highest  point  of  the 
pasture.  There  stood  a  little  hut.  All  around 
there  was  nothing  but  pasture,  not  a  tree,  not  a 
bush.  In  the  hut  on  one  side  was  a  narrow 
seat  fastened  to  the  wall  in  front  of  which  stood 
a  table.  On  the  other  side  stood  a  bed  of  hay. 
In  the  corner  was  a  little,  round  stool  and  on  this 
a  wooden  jug. 

Toni  and  the  man  stepped  inside.  The  latter 
placed  on  the  floor  the  big  wooden  milk-pail, 
which  he  had  brought  up  on  his  back,  took  out 
of  it  a  round  loaf  of  bread  and  a  huge  piece  of 
cheese,  laid  both  on  the  table  and  said:  "Of 


UP  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS          45 

course  you  have  a  knife,"  to  which  Tony  assented. 

Then  the  man  took  the  wooden  jug,  swung 
the  milk-pail  on  his  back  and  went  out.  Toni 
followed  him.  The  man  lifted  a  wooden  basin 
out  of  the  big  pail,  seated  himself  on  the  little 
round  stool  which  he  had  brought  out  of  the  hut 
and  began  to  milk  one  cow  after  another.  If 
one  was  too  far  away,  he  would  call  out :  "Drive 
her  here!"  and  Toni  obeyed.  When  the  basin 
was  full  he  poured  it  into  the  big  pail  and  silently 
went  on  until  all  the  cows  had  been  milked.  At 
the  last  the  man  filled  the  jug  with  milk,  handed 
it  to  Toni,  took  the  pail  on  his  back,  the  basin 
in  his  hand  and  saying  "Good  night!"  went  down 
the  mountain. 

Then  Toni  was  all  alone.  He  put  his  jug  of 
milk  in  the  hut  and  came  out  again.  He  looked 
around  on  every  side.  He  looked  over  to  the 
big  mountain,  but  between  that  and  his  pasture 
was  a  wide  valley  so  one  had  to  descend  in  order 
to  climb  up  to  the  big  one.  But  all  around  both 
pastures  great  dark  masses  of  mountains  looked 


46       TQNI,  THE  WOOD-CARVER 

down,  some  rocky,  gray  and  jagged,  others  cov- 
ered with  snow,  all  reaching  up  to  the  sky,  so 
high  and  mighty  and  with  such  different  peaks 
and  horns  and  some  with  such  broad  backs,  that  it 
almost  seemed  to  Toni  as  if  they  were  enormous 
giants,  each  one  having  his  own  face  and  looking 
down  at  him.  It  was  a  clear  evening.  The 
mountain  opposite  was  shining  in  the  golden  eve- 
ning light,  and  now  a  little  star  came  into  sight 
above  the  dark  mountains,  and  looked  down  to 
Toni  in  such  a  friendly  way  that  it  cheered  him 
very  much. 

He  thought  of  his  mother,  where  she  was  now 
and  how  she  was  in  the  habit  of  standing  with 
him  at  this  time  in  front  of  the  little  cottage 
and  talking  so  pleasantly.  Then  suddenly  there 
came  over  him  such  a  feeling  of  loneliness  that 
he  ran  into  the  hut,  threw  himself  down  on  the 
cot,  buried  his  face  in  the  hay  and  sobbed  softly, 
until  the  weariness  of  the  day  overcame  him  and 
he  fell  asleep. 

The  bright  morning  lured  him  out  early.     The 


UP  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS         47 

man  was  already  outside.  He  milked  the  cows, 
spoke  not  a  word  and  went  away. 

Now  a  long,  long  day  followed.  It  was  per- 
fectly still  all  around.  The  cows  grazed  and  lay 
down  around  in  the  sun-bathed  pasture.  Toni 
went  into  the  hut  two  or  three  times,  drank  some 
milk  and  ate  some  bread  and  cheese.  Then  he 
came  out  again,  sat  down  on  the  ground  and 
carved  on  a  piece  of  wood  he  had  in  his  pocket, 
for  although  he  no  longer  dared  to  cherish  the 
hope  of  becoming  a  wood-carver,  yet  he  could 
not  help  carving  for  himself  as  well  as  he  could. 
At  last  it  was  evening  again.  The  man  came 
and  went.  He  said  not  a  word,  and  Toni  had 
nothing  to  say  either. 

Thus  passed  one  day  after  another.  They 
were  all  so  long!  so  long!  In  the  evening,  when 
it  began  to  grow  dark  it  always  seemed  terrible 
to  Toni,  for  then  the  high  mountains  looked  so 
black  and  threatening,  as  if  they  would  suddenly 
do  him  some  harm.  Then  he  would  rush  back 
into  the  hut  and  crawl  into  his  bed  of  hay. 


48       TONI,  THE  WOOD-CARVER 

Many  days  had  passed  like  this,  one  exactly 
the  same  as  the  other.  The  sun  had  always  shone 
in  a  cloudless  sky ;  always  at  evening  the  friendly 
little  star  had  gleamed  above  the  dark  moun- 
tain. But  one  afternoon,  thick,  gray  clouds  be- 
gan to  chase  one  another  across  the  sky ;  now  and 
then  blinding  lightning  flashed,  and  suddenly 
frightful  thunder-bolts  sounded,  which  echoed 
roaring  from  the  mountains,  as  if  there  were 
twice  as  many  and  then  a  terrible  storm  broke. 
It  was  as  dark  as  night ;  the  rain  beat  against  the 
hut,  and  meanwhile  the  thunder  rolled  with  fear- 
ful reverberations  through  the  mountains ;  quiver- 
ing lightning  lighted  up  the  black,  frightful 
giant-forms,  which  seemed  quite  specter-like  to 
come  nearer  and  look  down  menacingly.  The 
cattle  ran  together  in  alarm  and  bellowed  loudly, 
and  great  birds  of  prey  flapped  around  with 
piercing  shrieks. 

Toni  had  long  since  fled  into  the  hut,  but  the 
lightning  showed  him  the  frightful  forms  and  it 
seemed  every  minute  as  if  the  rolling  thunder 


UP  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS         49 

would  overthrow  the  hut  to  the  ground.  Toni 
was  so  alarmed  he  could  hardly  breathe.  He 
climbed  up  on  the  table  expecting  every  minute 
that  the  hut  would  fall  and  crush  him.  The 
storm  lasted  for  hours,  and  the  man  never  came 
over.  It  was  now  really  night  but  still  the  blind- 
ing lightning  flashed  and  new  peals  of  thunder 
rolled  and  the  storm  howled  and  raged  as  if  it 
would  sweep  the  hut  away. 

Toni  stood  half  the  night  stiff  with  fright, 
clinging  to  the  table,  and  with  no  thought,  only 
a  feeling  of  a  frightful  power,  which  was  crush- 
ing everything.  How  he  reached  his  bed  he 
did  not  know,  but  in  the  morning  he  lay  stretched 
across  the  hay,  so  exhausted  he  could  hardly  rise. 
He  looked  anxiously  out  of  the  window.  How 
must  it  look  outside  after  such  a  night?  Then 
he  went  out  to  see  about  the  cows.  The  ground 
was  still  wet,  but  the  animals  were  peacefully 
grazing. 

The  sky  was  gray,  and  thick,  black  clouds  were 
passing  over  it.  Gloomy  and  frightful  the  high 


50       TONI,  THE  WOOD-CARVER 

mountains  stood  there.  They  had  come  so  near 
and  looked  more  threateningly  than  ever  at  Toni. 
He  ran  back  into  the  hut. 

Many  days  of  thunder  storms  followed,  one 
after  another  and  if  the  sun  came  out  between, 
it  burned  unbearably,  and  new  storms  followed 
so  unceasingly  and  violent,  that  the  herdsman,  on 
the  other  mountain  often  said  that  he  had  not 
known  such  a  summer  for  years,  and  if  it  didn't 
change  he  wouldn't  make  half  so  much  butter  as 
in  former  summers,  because  the  cows  gave  no 
milk,  as  they  didn't  like  the  fodder. 

During  this  time  the  man-servant  chose  the 
most  favorable  time  to  come  over  to  the  small 
pasture,  milked  the  cows  as  quickly  as  possible 
and  did  not  look  after  the  boy  at  all;  only  now 
and  then,  when  he  thought  Toni  had  no  more 
milk,  he  would  bring  the  jug  out  quickly,  fill  it 
and  put  it  back  again.  Then  he  often  saw  Toni 
sitting  on  his  bed  of  hay,  and  would  call  out  in 
passing: 

"You  are  lazy!" 


UP  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS         51 

But  then  he  ran  right  away  in  order  to  get 
back  without  being  wet,  and  did  not  trouble  him- 
self further  about  the  boy. 

So  June  had  passed,  and  already  a  good  part 
of  July.  The  thunder  storms  had  become  less 
frequent,  but  thick  fog  often  so  enveloped  the 
mountain  that  one  could  hardly  see  two  steps 
away,  and  only  here  and  there  a  black  head  ap- 
peared, looking  gloomily  through  the  mist. 
The  cattle  often  wandered  so  far  that  the  man 
found  some  of  them  between  the  two  mountains 
and  brought  them  up  again.  This  would  not  do. 
He  called  up  to  the  boy,  but  received  no  answer. 
He  ran  to  the  hut  and  went  in.  Toni  crouched 
in  the  corner  was  sitting  on  his  bed  and  staring 
straight  before  him. 

"Why  don't  you  look  after  the  cows?"  asked 
the  man. 

He  received  no  answer. 

"Can't  you  speak?  What  is  the  matter  with 
you?" 

No  answer. 


52       TONI,  THE  WOOD-CARVER 

Then  the  man  looked  at  the  bread  and  cheese, 
to  see  if  Toni  had  eaten  everything  and  was  suf- 
fering from  hunger.  But  more  than  half  the 
bread  was  there  and  the  larger  part  of  the  cheese. 
Toni  had  taken  almost  nothing  but  milk. 

"What  is  the  matter  with  you,  then?  Are  you 
sick?"  asked  the  man  again. 

Toni  gave  no  answer.  He  seemed  not  to  hear 
anything  and  stared  so  motionless  before  him  that 
the  man  was  quite  alarmed.  He  ran  out  of  the 
hut.  He  told  the  herdsman  how  it  was  with  the 
boy  and  they  decided  that  when  one  of  the  herds- 
man's boys  went  down  with  the  butter,  he  must 
tell  the  Matten  farmer  about  it. 

Another  week  passed.  Then  the  news  was 
brought  to  the  farmer.  He  thought  the  boy 
would  be  happy  again,  that  the  heavy  thunder- 
storms had  only  frightened  him  a  little.  But  he 
sent  word  for  the  herdsman  to  go  over;  he  had 
boys  of  his  own  and  would  understand  better 
about  this  than  the  hired  man.  If  anything  was 
wrong  with  Toni  he  must  be  brought  down. 


UP  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS         53 

Some  days  later  the  herdsman  really  went  over 
with  one  of  his  boys  and  found  Toni  still 
crouched  in  the  corner  just  as  the  man  had  seen 
him.  Toni  made  no  sound  to  anything  the  herds- 
man said  to  him,  did  not  move  and  kept  staring 
always  before  him. 

"He  must  go  down,"  said  the  herdsman  to  his 
boy,  "go  with  him  right  away,  but  take  care  that 
nothing  happens  to  him  and  be  good  to  him ;  the 
boy  is  to  be  pitied,"  and  he  looked  at  Toni  with 
sympathy,  for  the  herdsman  had  a  good  heart 
and  took  delight  in  his  own  three  big,  healthy 
boys.  The  one  he  had  with  him  was  a  strong, 
sturdy  fellow  of  sixteen  years.  He  went  up  to 
Toni  and  told  him  to  stand  up,  but  Toni  did  not 
move.  Then  the  lad  took  him  under  the  arms, 
lifted  him  up,  like  a  feather,  then  swung  him  on 
his  back,  held  him  firmly  with  both  hands,  and 
went  with  his  light  burden  down  the  mountain. 

When  the  Matten  farmer  saw  Toni  in  such  a 
sad  condition,  which  remained  just  the  same,  he 
was  alarmed,  for  he  had  not  expected  such  a  thing. 


54       TONI,  THE  WOOD-CARVER 

He  did  not  know  at  all  what  to  do  with  the  boy. 
His  mother  was  far  away,  no  relatives  were  there, 
and  he  himself  did  not  want  to  keep  Toni  while 
in  this  condition.  He  could  take  such  a  respon- 
sibility, but  he  did  not  want  to  do  so.  Suddenly 
a  good  thought  came  to  him,  the  same  as  the  peo- 
ple there  in  every  difficulty,  in  every  need  and 
every  trouble,  always  have  first  of  all: 

"Take  him  to  the  Pastor,"  he  said  to  the  herds- 
man's boy,  "he  will  have  some  good  advice  to 
give,  which  will  help." 

The  lad  immediately  started  off  and  went  to 
the  Pastor,  who  allowed  the  boy  to  tell  him  as 
much  as  he  knew  about  the  details  of  the  case, 
how  Toni  came  to  be  in  this  condition  and  how 
long  it  had  lasted;  but  the  lad  knew  very  little 
about  it  all.  The  Pastor  first  tried  every  means 
to  make  Toni  speak,  and  asked  him  if  he  would 
like  to  go  to  his  mother,  but  it  was  all  in  vain, 
Toni  did  not  give  the  least  sign  of  understand- 
ing or  interest. 

Then  the  pastor  sat  down,  wrote  a  letter  and 
said  to  the  herdsman's  boy: 


UP  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS         55 

"Go  back  to  the  Matten  farm  and  tell  the 
farmer  to  harness  his  little  carriage  and  send  it 
to  me,  and  then  I  will  see  that  Toni  goes  to-day 
to  Bern.  He  is  ver^  sick;  say  that  to  the 
farmer." 

The  farmer  harnessed  immediately,  glad  that 
further  responsibility  was  taken  from  him  and  he 
had  only  to  carry  Toni  as  far  as  the  railway. 
But  the  Pastor  sent  down  to  his  sexton,  an  older, 
kindly  man,  who  had  given  him  a  helping  hand 
for  years  in  many  matters  of  responsibility. 
He  was  commissioned  to  take  Toni  with  all  care 
to  the  great  sanitarium  in  Bern  and  to  give  the 
letter  to  the  doctor  there,  a  good  friend  of  the 
Pastor's.  A  half  hour  later,  the  open  carriage 
with  the  high  seat  drove  up  in  front  of  the  Pastor's 
house.  The  sexton  climbed  up,  placed  the  sick 
boy  beside  him,  held  him  carefully  but  firmly  and 
thus  Toni  drove  out  into  the  world,  with  a  horse, 
for  the  first  time  in  his  life.  But  he  sat  there 
with  no  sign  of  interest.  It  was  as  if  he  were 
no  longer  conscious  of  the  outer  world. 


IN  THE  SANITARIUM 


CHAPTER  FOURTH 

IN   THE   SANITARIUM 

THE  doctor  of  the  sanitarium  was  sitting 
with  his  family  around  the  family  table, 
engaged  in  merry  conversation  on  vari- 
ous subjects.  Even  the  lady  from  Geneva,  who 
spent  several  hours  a  day  with  the  family,  seemed 
to-day  a  little  infected  by  the  children's  gayety. 
She  had  never  before  taken  so  lively  a  part  in 
the  discussion,  which  the  school-children  carried 
on  about  different  interests. 

This  lady's  beloved  and  gifted  son  had  died 
not  long  before;  on  this  account  she  had  fallen 
into  such  deep  sadness  that  her  health  had  suf- 
fered greatly  and  therefore  she  had  been  brought 
to  the  sanitarium  to  recover. 

The  animated  conversation  was  suddenly  in- 

59 


60       TONI,  THE  WOOD-CARVER 

terrupted  by  a  letter  which  was  handed  to  the 
doctor. 

"A  letter  from  an  old  friend,  who  is  sending 
me  a  patient  to  the  sanitarium.  He  is  a  young 
boy,  hardly  as  old  as  our  Max — there,  read  it." 
Whereupon  the  doctor  handed  the  letter  to  his 
wife. 

"Oh,  the  poor  boy!"  exclaimed  his  wife.  "Is 
he  here?  Bring  him  in.  Perhaps  it  will  do  him 
good  to  see  the  children." 

"I  think  he  is  quite  near,"  said  the  doctor;  he 
went  out,  and  soon  came  in  again  with  the  sexton 
and  Toni.  He  led  the  former  into  a  bay  win- 
dow and  began  talking  with  him  in  a  low  tone. 
Meanwhile  the  doctor's  wife  drew  near  to  Toni, 
who  on  entering  had  pressed  into  the  nearest 
corner.  She  spoke  kindly  to  him  and  invited  him 
to  come  to  the  table  and  eat  something  with  her 
children.  Toni  did  not  move.  Then  lively  little 
Marie  jumped  down  from  her  chair  and  came  to 
Toni  with  a  large  piece  of  bread  and  butter. 

"There,  take  a  bite,"  she  said  encouragingly. 


IN  THE  SANITARIUM  61 

Toni  remained  motionless. 

"See,  you  must  do  so,"  and  the  little  girl  bit 
a  good  piece  from  the  bread  and  held  it  to  him, 
then  again  a  little  nearer,  so  he  only  needed  to 
bite  into  it.  But  he  stared  in  front  of  him  and 
made  no  motion.  This  silent  resistance  fright- 
ened Marie  and  she  drew  back  quietly. 

Then  the  doctor  came,  took  Toni  by  the  hand 
and  went  out  followed  by  the  sexton. 

Poor  Toni's  appearance  had  made  a  great  im- 
pression on  the  children.  They  had  become  per- 
fectly quiet. 

Later  when  they  had  gone  to  bed  and  the  two 
women  were  sitting  alone  together,  the  doctor 
came  back  again.  In  reply  to  their  urgent  ques- 
tions he  informed  them  about  all  that  the  sexton 
had  told  him  concerning  Toni's  illness  and  his 
life  with  his  mother,  and  that  no  one  had  ever 
noticed  anything  wrong  with  the  boy  before,  only 
he  had  always  been  a  quiet,  gentle  child  and 
more  slenderly  built  than  any  of  the  other  village 
children. 


62       TONI,  THE  WOOD-CARVER 

The  women  asked  how  he  had  come  into  this 
condition  in  the  summer  up  on  the  beautiful 
mountain,  and  the  doctor  explained  that  it  was 
not  so  strange,  if  one  knew  how  terrible  the  thun- 
der storms  were  up  in  the  mountains.  "Besides," 
he  concluded,  "a  delicate  child,  such  as  this  boy, 
all  alone  without  a  human  being  near,  for  whole 
weeks,  even  months  long,  without  hearing  a  word 
spoken,  might  well  be  so  terrified  through  fear 
and  horror  in  the  awful  loneliness  that  he  would 
become  wholly  benumbed." 

Then  the  lady  from  Geneva,  who  took  an  un- 
usual interest  in  poor  Toni's  fate,  exclaimed  in 
great  excitement: 

"How  can  a  mother  allow  such  a  thing  to  hap- 
pen to  her  child!  It  is  wholly  inconceivable, 
quite  incomprehensible!" 

"You  really  can  have  no  idea,"  replied  the 
doctor  soothingly,  "what  poor  mothers  are 
obliged  to  let  happen  to  their  children.  But 
don't  believe  that  it  causes  them  less  pain  than 
others.  You  see  how  many  suffer  that  we  know 


IN  THE  SANITARIUM  63 

nothing  about,  and  how  hard  poverty  oppresses." 

"Will  you  be  able  to  help  the  poor  young 
boy  ?"  asked  the  lady  from  Geneva. 

"If  I  can  only  bring  out  the  right  emotion  in 
him,"  he  replied,  "so  that  the  spell,  which  holds 
him  imprisoned,  can  be  broken.  Now  everything 
in  him  is  numbed  and  lifeless." 

"Oh,  do  help  him!  Do  help  him!"  begged  the 
sick  lady  imploringly.  "Oh,  if  I  could  do  some- 
thing for  him!"  And  she  walked  to  and  fro 
thinking  about  a  way  to  help,  for  Toni's  condi- 
tion went  deeply  to  her  heart. 

It  was  the  second  week  of  August,  when  Toni 
came  to  the  sanitarium.  Day  after  day,  week 
after  week  passed  and  the  doctor  could  only  bring 
the  same  sad  news  to  the  two  women,  who  every 
morning  awaited  his  report  with  great  anxiety. 
Not  the  slightest  change  was  noticed.  Every 
means  was  tried  to  amuse  the  boy,  to  see  if  he 
would  perhaps  laugh.  Other  attempts  were  de- 
vised to  disturb  him,  to  make  him  cry.  They  per- 
formed all  kinds  of  tricks  to  attract  his  atten- 


64       TQNI,  THE  WOOD-CARVER 

tion.  All,  all  were  in  vain;  no  trace  of  interest 
or  emotion  was  aroused  in  Toni. 

"If  he  could  only  be  made  to  laugh  or  to  cry 
once!"  repeated  the  doctor  over  and  over  again. 

When  he  had  been  four  weeks  in  the  sani- 
tarium all  hope  disappeared,  for  the  doctor  had 
exhausted  every  means. 

"Now  I  will  try  one  thing  more,"  he  said  one 
morning  to  his  wife.  "I  have  written  to  my 
friend,  the  Pastor,  and  asked  him  if  the  boy  was 
very  much  attached  to  his  mother,  and  if  so,  to 
send  for  her  right  away.  Perhaps  to  see  her 
again  would  make  an  impression  on  him." 

The  two  women  looked  forward  in  great  sus- 
pense to  Elsbeth's  arrival. 

In  the  first  week  of  September  the  last  guests 
left  the  hotel  in  Interlaken  where  Elsbeth  had 
spent  the  summer.  She  immediately  started  on 
her  way  home,  for  she  wanted  to  get  everything 
in  order  before  Toni  came  down  from  the  moun- 
tain. She  never  thought  but  that  he  was  still  up 
there,  and  had  no  suspicion  of  all  that  had  hap- 


IN  THE  SANITARIUM  65 

pened.  When  she  reached  home,  she  went  •  at 
once  to  the  Matten  farm  to  enquire  for  Toni  and 
to  bring  the  goat  home. 

The  farmer  was  very  friendly,  and  thought  her 
goat  was  now  by  far  one  of  the  finest,  because 
she  had  had  good  fodder  so  long.  But  when 
Elsbeth  asked  after  her  Toni,  he  broke  off 
abruptly  and  said  he  had  so  much  to  do,  she 
must  go  to  the  Pastor,  for  he  would  have  the  best 
knowledge  about  the  boy.  It  immediately 
seemed  to  Elsbeth  that  it  was  a  little  strange  for 
the  Pastor  to  know  best  what  happened  up  on  the 
mountain  and  while  she  was  leading  home  the 
goat,  and  thinking  about  the  matter,  a  feeling  of 
anxiety  came  over  her  and  grew  stronger  and 
stronger.  As  soon  as  she  reached  home,  she 
quickly  tied  the  goat,  without  going  into  the  cot- 
tage at  all,  and  ran  back  the  same  way  she  had 
come,  down  again  to  Kandergrund. 

The  Pastor  told  her  with  great  consideration, 
how  Toni  had  not  borne  the  life  on  the  moun- 
tain very  well  and  they  had  been  obliged  to  bring 


66       TONI,  THE  WOOD-CARVER 

him  down,  and  since  it  seemed  best  for  him  that 
he  should  go  at  once  to  a  good  physician  for  the 
right  care,  he  had  sent  the  boy  immediately  to 
Bern. 

His  mother  was  very  much  shocked  and  wanted 
to  travel  the  next  day  to  see  for  herself  if  her 
child  was  very  ill. 

But  the  Pastor  said  that  would  not  do,  but  that 
she  should  wait  until  the  doctor  allowed  a  visit, 
and  she  could  be  sure  that  Toni  was  receiving 
the  best  care. 

With  a  heavy  heart  Elsbeth  went  back  to  her 
cottage.  She  could  do  nothing  but  leave  it  all 
to  the  dear  Lord,  who  alone  had  been  her  trust 
for  so  many  years.  But  it  was  only  a  few  days 
later  when  the  Pastor  sent  her  word  that  she  was 
to  go  to  Bern  at  once,  as  the  doctor  wished  her 
to  come. 

Early  the  following  day  Elsbeth  started. 
About  noon  she  reached  Bern  and  soon  was 
standing  in  front  of  the  door  of  the  sanitarium. 

She  was  led  to  the  doctor's  living-room  and 


IN  THE  SANITARIUM  67 

here  received  with  great  friendliness  by  his  wife 
and  with  still  keener  sympathy  by  the  lady  from 
Geneva,  who  had  so  lived  in  the  history  of  poor 
Toni  and  his  mother  that  she  could  hardly  think 
of  anything  else  but  how  to  help  these  two.  She 
had  had  only  the  one  child  and  could  so  well  un- 
derstand the  mother's  trouble.  She  had  even 
asked  the  doctor  to  allow  her  to  be  present  when 
he  took  the  boy  to  his  mother,  in  order  to  share 
in  the  joy,  if  the  poor  boy's  delight  at  seeing  her 
again  would  affect  him  as  they  hoped. 

Soon  the  doctor  appeared,  and  after  he  had 
prepared  the  mother  not  to  expect  Toni  to 
speak  at  the  first  moment,  he  brought  him  in. 
He  led  him  by  the  hand  into  the  room,  then  he  let 
go  and  stepped  to  one  side. 

The  mother  ran  to  her  Toni  and  tried  to  seize 
his  hand.  He  drew  back  and  pressed  into  the 
corner  staring  into  vacancy. 

The  women  and  the  doctor  exchanged  sad 
looks. 

His  mother  went  up  to  him  and  caressed  him. 


68       TONI,  THE  WOOD-CARVER 

"Toneli,  Toneli,"  she  said  again  and  again  in 
a  tender  voice,  "don't  you  know  me?  Don't  you 
know  your  mother  any  more?" 

As  always  before  Toni  pressed  against  the  wall, 
made  no  motion  and  stared  before  him. 

In  tender  tones  the  mother  continued  mourn- 
fully: 

"Oh,  Toneli,  say  just  a  single  word!     Only 
look  at  me  once !     Toneli,  don't  you  hear  me?" 
•  Toneli  remained  unmoved. 

Still  once  again  the  mother  looked  at  him  full 
of  tenderness,  but  only  met  his  staring  eyes.  It 
was  too  much  for  poor  Elsbeth,  that  the  only 
possession  she  had  on  earth,  and  the  one  she  loved 
with  all  her  heart,  her  Toni,  should  be  lost  to  her, 
and  in  such  a  sad  way!  She  forgot  everything 
around  her.  She  fell  on  her  knees  beside  her 
child,  and  while  the  tears  were  bursting  from  her 
eyes,  she  poured  out  aloud  the  sorrow  in  her 
heart : 

Oh  God  of  Love,  oh  Father-heart, 
In  whom  my  trust  is  founded, 


IN  THE  SANITARIUM  69 

I  know  full  well  how  good  Thou  art  — 
E'en  when  by  grief  I  am  wounded. 

Oh  Lord,  it  surely  can  not  be 

That  Thou  wilt  let  me  languish 
In  hopeless  depths  of  misery 

And  live  in  tears  of  anguish. 

Toni's  eyes  took  on  a  different  expression. 
He  looked  at  his  mother.  She  did  not  see  him 
and  went  on  imploring  in  the  midst  of  her  tears : 

Oh  Lord,  my  soul  yearns  for  thine  aid 

In  this  dark  vale  of  weeping; 
For  Thee  I  have  waited,  hoped  and  prayed, 

Assured  of  thy  safe  keeping. 

Suddenly  Toni  threw  himself  on  his  mother 
and  sobbed  aloud.  She  threw  her  arms  around 
him  and  her  tears  of  sorrow  turned  to  loud  sobs 
of  joy.  The  child  sobbed  aloud  also. 

"It  is  won,"  said  the  doctor  in  great  delight  to 
the  women,  who,  deeply  moved,  were  looking  on 
at  the  mother  and  boy. 

Then  the  doctor  opened  the  door  of  the  next 


70       TONI,  THE  WOOD-CARVER 

room  and  beckoned  Elsbeth  to  go  in  there  with 
Toni.  He  thought  it  would  be  good  for  both  to 
be  alone  for  a  while.  In  there  after  a  while  Toni 
began  to  talk  quite  naturally  with  his  mother 
and  asked  her: 

"Are  we  going  home,  Mother,  to  the  stone  hut? 
Shan't  I  have  to  go  up  on  the  mountain  any 
more?" 

And  she  quieted  him  and  said  she  would  now 
take  him  right  home,  and  they  would  stay  there 
together.  Soon  all  Toni's  thoughts  came  back 
again  quite  clearly,  and  after  a  while  he  said : 

"But  I  must  earn  something,  Mother." 

"Don't  trouble  about  that  now,"  said  Elsbeth 
quietly;  "the  dear  Lord  will  show  a  way  when  it 
is  time." 

Then  they  began  to  talk  about  the  goat,  how 
pretty  and  fat  she  had  grown,  and  Toni  grad- 
ually became  quite  lively. 

After  an  hour  the  doctor  brought  them  both 
into  the  living-room  back  to  the  ladies.  Toni  was 
entirely  changed,  his  eyes  had  now  an  earnest  but 


IN  THE  SANITARIUM  71 

quite  different  expression.  The  lady  from 
Geneva  was  indescribably  delighted.  She  sat 
down  beside  him  at  once,  and  he  had  to  tell  her 
where  he  had  been  to  school  and  what  he  had 
liked  to  study. 

But  the  doctor  beckoned  to  Elsbeth  to  come 
to  him. 

"Listen,  my  good  woman,"  he  began,  "the 
words  which  you  repeated  made  a  deep,  pene- 
trating impression  on  the  boy's  heart.  Did  he 
know  the  hymn  already?" 

"Oh,  my  Lord,"  exclaimed  Elsbeth,  "many 
hundred  times  I  have  repeated  it  beside  his  little 
bed,  when  he  was  very  small,  often  with  many 
tears,  and  he  would  weep  too,  when  he  didn't 
know  why." 

"He  wept  because  you  wept,  he  suffered  be- 
cause you  suffered,"  said  the  doctor.  "Now  I 
understand  how  he  was  aroused  by  these  words. 
With  such  impressions  in  early  childhood  it  is  no 
wonder  he  became  a  quiet  and  reserved  boy. 
This  explains  to  me  much  in  the  past." 


72       TONI,  THE  WOOD-CARVER 

Then  the  lady  from  Geneva  came  up  for  she 
wanted  to  talk  with  the  mother. 

"My  dear,  good  woman,  he  certainly  must  not 
go  up  on  the  mountain  again.  He  is  not  fit  for 
it,"  she  said  in  great  eagerness.  "We  must  find 
something  different  for  him.  Has  he  no  taste 
for  some  other  occupation?  But  it  must  be  light, 
for  he  is  not  strong  and  needs  care." 

"Oh,  yes,  he  has  a  great  desire  to  learn  some- 
thing," said  his  mother.  "From  a  little  boy  he 
has  wished  for  it,  but  I  hardly  dare  mention 
it." 

"There,  there,  my  good  woman,  tell  me  right 
away  about  it,"  said  the  lady  encouragingly,  ex- 
pecting something  unheard-of. 

"He  wants  so  much  to  be  a  wood-carver,  and 
has  a  good  deal  of  talent  for  it,  but  the  cost  of 
board  and  instruction  together  is  more  than 
eighty  francs." 

"Is  that  all?"  exclaimed  the  lady  in  the  great- 
est surprise,  "is  that  all?  Come,  my  boy,"  and 
she  ran  to  Toni  again,  "would  you  really  like  to 


IN  THE  SANITARIUM  73 

become  a  wood-carver — better  than  anything 
else?" 

The  joy  which  shone  in  Toni's  eyes,  when  he 
answered  that  he  would,  showed  the  lady  what 
she  had  to  do.  She  had  such  a  longing  to  help 
Toni,  that  she  wanted  to  act  immediately  that 
very  hour. 

"Would  you  like  to  learn  at  once,  go  to  a 
teacher  right  away?"  she  asked  him. 

Toni  gladly  replied  that  he  would. 

But  now  came  a  new  thought.  She  turned  to 
the  doctor.  "Perhaps  he  ought  to  recover  his 
health  first?" 

The  doctor  replied  that  he  had  been  already 
thinking  about  that.  The  mother  had  told  him 
that  she  knew  a  very  good  master  up  in  Frutigen. 
"Now  I  think,"  he  went  on  to  say,  "that  carving 
is  not  a  strenuous  work,  and  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant things  for  Toni  is  to  have  for  some  time 
good,  nourishing  food.  In  Frutigen  there  is  a 
very  good  inn,  if  he  only  could— 

"I  will  undertake  that,  Doctor,  I  will  under- 


74       TONI,  THE  WOOD-CARVER 

take  that,"  interrupted  the  lady.  "I  will  go  with 
him.  We  will  start  to-morrow.  In  Frutigen 
I  will  provide  for  Toni's  board  and  lodging  and 
for  everything  he  needs."  In  her  great  delight 
the  lady  shook  hands  with  both  the  mother  and 
the  boy  repeatedly,  and  went  out  to  instruct  her 
maid  about  preparations  for  the  journey. 

When  the  mother  with  her  boy  had  been  taken 
to  their  room,  the  doctor  said  with  great  delight 
to  his  wife : 

"We  have  two  recoveries.  Our  lady  is  also 
cured.  A  new  interest  has  come  to  her,  and  you 
will  see  she  will  have  new  life  in  providing  for 
this  young  boy.  This  has  been  a  beautiful  day!" 

On  the  following  morning  the  journey  was 
made  to  Frutigen,  and  the  little  company  were 
so  glad  and  happy  together  that  they  reached 
there  before  they  were  aware  of  it. 

At  the  wood-carver's  the  lady  was  told  every- 
thing that  would  be  needed  for  the  work,  and 
after  he  had  showed  them  all  kinds  of  instru- 
ments, he  thought  a  fine  book  with  good  pictures, 


IN  THE  SANITARIUM  75 

from  which  one  could  work,  would  be  useful. 

After  the  lady  had  charged  him  to  teach  Toni 
everything  in  any  way  necessary  for  the  future, 
they  went  to  the  inn.  Here  the  lady  engaged  a 
good  room  with  comfortable  bed,  and  herself  ar- 
ranged with  the  host  a  bill  of  fare  for  every  day 
in  the  week.  The  host  promised,  with  many 
bows,  to  follow  everything  exactly,  for  he  saw 
very  well  with  whom  he  had  to  deal. 

Then  Toni  and  his  mother  had  to  eat  with  the 
lady  in  the  inn,  and  during  the  meal  she  had 
much  more  to  say.  She  was  going  now,  she 
said,  the  next  day,  home  to  Geneva,  where  there 
were  large  shops,  in  which  nothing  was  sold  but 
carvings.  There  she  would  immediately  arrange 
for  Toni  to  send  all  his  articles,  so  he  could  be- 
gin to  work  with  fresh  zeal.  Moreover,  she  in- 
sisted that  Toni  should  remain,  not  two,  but  three 
months  with  the  carver,  so  that  he  could  learn 
everything  from  the  foundation.  He  could  go 
from  here  to  visit  his  mother  on  Sundays,  or  she 
could  come  to  him. 


76       TONI,  THE  WOOD-CARVER 

Elsbeth  and  Toni  were  so  full  of  gratitude, 
they  could  find  no  words  to  express  it,  but  the 
lady  understood  them  nevertheless  and  bore 
home  a  happy  heart,  such  as  she  had  not  had  for 
a  long  time. 

It  came  about  just  as  the  doctor  had  foreseen. 
The  lady,  who  had  not  been  able  to  think  any 
more  about  her  home  now  desired  to  return  to 
Geneva.  She  had  so  many  plans  to  carry  out 
there,  that  she  could  hardly  wait  for  the  day  when 
she  was  to  go  back. 

The  doctor  was  delighted  to  consent  to  her 
going  soon. 

Toni,  who  had  hardly  begun  with  his  new 
teacher,  applied  himself  with  so  much  zeal  and 
skill  to  his  work,  that  the  carver  said  to  his  wife 
in  the  fourth  week: 

"If  he  goes  on  like  this,  he  will  learn  to  do 
better  than  I  can." 

The  three  months  had  come  to  an  end,  and 
Christmas  was  drawing  near.  One  morning 
Toni  waded  through  the  deep  snow  up  to  his 


IN  THE  SANITARIUM  77 

home.  He  looked  round  and  fresh,  and  his  heart 
was  so  happy  he  had  to  sing  aloud  as  he  came 
along. 

But  when  after  a  long  walk,  he  suddenly  saw 
the  stone  hut  with  the  fir-tree  thickly  covered 
with  snow  behind  it,  tears  of  joy  came  to  his 
eyes.  He  was  coming  home,  home  for  all  time. 
He  ran  to  the  little  house,  and  his  mother,  who 
had  already  seen  him,  hurried  out,  and  which  one 
of  the  two  was  the  more  delighted,  no  one  could 
tell;  but  they  were  both  so  happy,  as  they  sat  to- 
gether again  in  the  cottage,  that  they  could  think 
of  no  greater  fortune  on  earth.  Their  highest 
wish  was  fulfilled.  Toni  was  a  wood-carver,  and 
could  carry  on  his  work  at  home  with  his  mother. 
And  with  what  blessings  besides  the  dear  Lord 
was  still  overwhelming  them!  From  Geneva 
such  good  things  kept  coming  to  Elsbeth,  that 
she  no  longer  had  to  dread  anxious  days,  and  with 
each  package  came  new  assurance  of  the  ready 
acceptance  of  Toni's  work. 

Such  a  Christmas  festival  as  was  celebrated  two 


78       TONI,  THE  WOOD-CARVER 

days  later  in  the  stone  hut,  neither  Elsbeth  nor 
Toni  had  ever  known  before,  for  the  candles 
which  his  mother  had  lighted  shone  out  upon  a 
quantity  of  things,  which  Toni  had  received  to 
wear,  and  also  a  whole  set  of  the  most  beautiful 
knives  for  carving  and  a  book  with  pictures,  of 
a  size  and  beauty  such  as  Toni  had  never  in  all 
his  life  seen  before.  His  master's  book  was  a 
mere  child's  toy  beside  it.  Elsbeth  too  was  lov- 
ingly provided  for.  The  lady  from  Geneva  had 
planned  everything,  and  the  bright  reflection 
from  it  fell  back  radiantly  into  her  own  heart. 

The  most  beautiful  deer  and  huntsman  and 
the  wonderful  eagles  on  the  rock,  standing  in  the 
high  show-window  in  Geneva  was  carved  by 
Toni,  and  was  considered  by  him  to  be  a  par- 
ticularly successful  piece,  so  it  went,  not  to  the 
dealer  in  Geneva,  but  to  the  lady  for  whom  Toni 
preserved  a  thankful  heart  all  his  life  long. 

THE   END 


BOOKS  BY  JOHANNA  SPYRI 

Translated  by  Helen  B.  Dole. 
HEIDI  (Complete  Edition) 

Illustrations,  typography,  and  binding  of  this  beautiful  holiday 
edition  of  the  famous  story  of  a  little  Swiss  girl's  life  leave  nothing 
to  be  desired.  16  full-page  illustrations  in  color.  8vo,  cloth. 

"This  delightful  classic  has  charmed  many  young  readers  in  the 
past,  and  since  it  was  first  translated  and  published  in  America 
there  has  been  a  constant  increase  of  interest.  Leading  libraries 
hst  it  with  the  most  desirable  reading  for  children,  and  a  Western 
authority  ranks  it  as  'literature  of  the  first  order.'  The  scene  of 
the  story  is  laid  among  the  rocks  and  flowers  and  snows  of  the 
Alps,  and  the  narrative  concerns  the  life  of  a  little  girl,  who  lives 
there  in  her  grandfather's  humble  cottage." — Hartford  Courant. 

MONI  THE  GOAT  BOY 

There  are  some  beautiful  and  vivid  descriptions  in  this  little  story, 
giving  it  a  peculiar  charm. 

THE  ROSE  CHILD 

Here  is  another  pleasant  tale  of  childhood  in  Switzerland.  The 
story  of  a  little  Alpine  peasant  girl  who  forgets  her  own  woes  in 
helpful  service  for  others. 

WHAT  SAMI  SINGS  WITH  THE  BIRDS 

A  pleasant  story  with  an  uplift  of  faith  and  an  appeal  to  right 
living  that  make  it  a  worthwhile  book  to  place  in  the  hands  of 
any  child. 

LITTLE  MISS  GRASSHOPPER 

"A  delightful  little  story  with  an  Alpine  setting,  by  the  author 
of  'Heidi.'  Told  with  the  same  charm  as  her  previous  books." 
— Independent.  


CURLY  HEAD— THE  PET  LAMB 

An  Alpine  Christmas  tale  illustrating  God's  loving  mercy  and 
the  Christ  spirit  at  Christmas  tide. 

TONI  THE  LITTLE  WOOD  CARVER 

The  story  of  a  little  boy  who  lived  in  a  little  stone  house  among 
the  mountains.  Toni  had  some  very  trying  experiences  but  finally 
his  great  desire  is  realized. 

TISS,  A  LITTLE  ALPINE  WAIF 

How  the  great  love  that  came  into  a  neglected  child's  heart  cast 
out  fear  and  "made  a  man  of  him"  is  the  theme  of  this  charming 
tale.  

Each  volume,  8vo  cloth.     Illustrated  in  color. 

Order  from   your   Bookseller 

Thomas  Y.  Crowell  Company 

Publishers  New  York 


RETURN  TO  the  circulation  desk  of  any 
University  of  California  Library 

or  to  the 

NORTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 
Bldg.  400,  Richmond  Field  Station 
University  of  California 
Richmond,  CA  94804-4698 

ALL  BOOKS  MAY  BE  RECALLED  AFTER  7  DAYS 

•  2-month  loans  may  be  renewed  by  calling 
(510)642-6753 

•  1-year  loans  may  be  recharged  by  bringing 
books  to  NRLF 

•  Renewals  and  recharges  may  be  made  4 
days  prior  to  due  date. 

DUE  AS  STAMPED  BELOW 


p 


FEB 


12,000(11/95) 


